The Data Behind Solving Violent Crime

77%

The number of cases won by health care providers under the No Surprises Act’s (NSA) independent dispute resolution process
 
When it comes to the NSA’s independent dispute resolution (IDR) process — which is aimed at determining payment rates for out-of-network services – health care providers (like anesthesiologists, for example) are winning more than three quarters of the cases. And when they win, they win big — receiving three times their typical in-network rate.

As such, the NSA may result in less savings for patients, consumers, employers, and taxpayers than initially projected by the Congressional Budget Office. 
 
Recent data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showed four groups are behind two-thirds of filed IDR claims. All are backed by private equity, including some with a history of exploiting surprise billing as a business strategy prior to enactment of the NSA.

Criminal Justice

• In the Houston Chronicle, Nikki Pressley, Texas director for Right on Crime, discusses how Houston, and Texas more generally, should support crime victims and community safety by improving low clearance rates — especially with regards to rape and sexual assault.
   
• Despite many lawmakers observing Second Chance Month, there has been little actual improvement in re-entry outcomes over the past three decades, according to Brian Hamilton of the Brian Hamilton Foundation and Inmates to Entrepreneurs, in Fortune. Part of the problem is that it is still very difficult for formerly incarcerated people to find employment.

• KFF,'s Ten Things to Know About Consolidation in Health Care Provider Markets, identifies site neutral payment reforms, increased price transparency, and strengthened antitrust enforcement as ways to improve competition.
   
• The Nicholas C. Petris Center and the UC College of Law San Francisco released a new study on cross-market hospital mergers. The study, also covered by STAT News, is the third study to find price increases after cross-market hospital mergers. Prices increased almost 13% in the six years following acquisition — with no demonstrated quality improvements.
   
• A new study from the American Economic Review, coauthored by AV grantee Zack Cooper and covered by The Wall Street Journal, Axios, and STAT News, finds that federal regulators were under-enforcing antitrust laws regarding hospital mergers over the last two decades, leading to higher prices and less competition. Mergers in rural and lower income areas increased hospital prices more than in other parts of the country. (free links)

• Alan Cole of AV grantee Tax Foundation outlined ways to improve the base erosion and anti-abuse tax (otherwise known as BEAT) — a provision in the 2017 tax reform that was intended to prevent multinational companies from shifting profits out of the United States. 
   
• The Niskanen Center’s Matt Darling published a report describing issues with the “experience rating” system employed by states to fund unemployment insurance.

• New America shows how short-term credentials, supported by the federal government, deliver poor economic returns for students. 
   
• The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) published a new policy brief on the Postsecondary Student Success Grant program, including recommendations for legislators to improve the impact of the program.

• Canary Media covers how the Biden administration is trying to boost renewable energy projects on federal lands.
   
• New internet data centers need energy — and sometimes they’re getting it by connecting to old coal power plants, The Washington Post reports. (free link)

• On Monday, April 29, Arnold Ventures and Stono Public Affairs will be hosting a panel conversation on criminal justice reform with the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus in Union, New Jersey. Register here.
   
• The documentary "For the Record" will air on PBS's Reel South series on Monday, May 6, across the country. This episode, supported by Arnold Ventures, explores the collapse of the newspaper industry and its ramifications. The Texas Standard profiled Laurie Brown, publisher of the Canadian Record, which is featured in the documentary. PBS’s News Hour also produced a story about the decline of local papers.